South America Day 25 - Circuito Chico

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Today we are driving the Circuito Chico; a popular 60 km scenic lakeside loop. We start by taking a chairlift 1000 metres up Cerro Campanario, where a series of platforms provide 360 degree views of the surrounding mountains and lakes.

We take the chairlift back down. A dozen ahead of us is a lady in a wheelchair. The lift is stopped while she is helped into her seat. This means that when she reaches the bottom and the lift is stopped again, we are dangling at the highest point. Being left dangling in a chair hanging on a wire halfway up a mountain is not my idea of a good time. Luckily we get moving again while I am still contemplating some sort of escape bid.

We continue to pretty little San Eduardo Chapel, made of stone and logs, perched on a hill overlooking the lake and and the little port of Puerto Panuelo.

Then we park up and follow a series of forest trails which lead us to a boardwalk through gnarly myrtle trees, a beach where Andean condors soar overhead, a Roman style bridge (randomly built in the forest for no particular reason) and the tiny Lago Escondido.

We drive across Bahia Lopez, where a bridge crosses a stream between two lakes and find ourselves at Cervezeria Patagonia; a brewery with a lakeside beer garden. We have a very good, cool beer on benches overlooking the lakes. The cups are pretty cool too, so we steal them and complete the circuit back to the hotel.

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